I know that Santa usually runs this event, but this year he's completely run off his feet, what with insane Health And Safety rules making his work even harder. So, to help him out, I've decided to run it instead.

What is the Secret Santa Event?This event was started three years ago to help bring the forums together as a community. It has gone very well, with only a few drop outs, so it has come back with hope of bringing more people into the holiday spirit!

Basically, you sign up in this thread and I will assign you a person to make a personal gift for once sign ups are done. It can be anything - a doll, pixel art, drawings, graphics... you decide, but you must keep in mind that this is about giving and it should be something the other person will appreciate and enjoy.

How does the event work?There are some steps to the process, so make sure you pay attention! Please only sign up if you are certain you have the time for this event.

1. Sign up for the event in this thread. Basically, post! In that post you should indicate that you want to participate and include a small list (3-4 items) of things you like. Examples would be "the colour gold", "Lady GaGa", "50s fashion", etc. This list should be reasonable for all users! Also, if you are interested, you can volunteer to be a back-up gifter as well in the event someone backs out.

2. Once sign ups close, you will be assigned a person to make a gift for. It is recommended that you look at their list of things here so you can make a nice personal gift, although holiday gifts are acceptable as well. To emphasise, please do not make gifts before you are assigned! Some people did this last year and it really loses its personal touch if you do.

3. Once you are done, send your gift to me through PM! If you don't know how to do this, ask any of the staff members and they will be happy to point you to threads about it or even explain it personally. Also, please make sure your gift is hosted on a reliable image host. This would be like photobucket or imageshack. I do not save the gifts, so if yours goes missing (is deleted, moved, etc), you may have to remake it or one of our special back-up gifters may have to step in.

4. Once I get all of the gifts, I send them out! Everyone can then gush here about their gifts and try to guess who was their Secret Santa. You don't have to tell who you had if you don't want to though.

What happens if I need to back out? Can I help if other people can't make their gifts?There is a special group of people who will step in to make sure your assigned person still gets a gift. Anyone can sign up to be a "back-up gifter" when they sign up for the event, though hopefully we will not have to do this.

Important Dates!December 6th - Secret Santa begins; Sign ups can start!December 16th - Sign ups to participate end! People can continue to sign up here and in PM if you fall outside this date. Assignments are handed out; gift making begins!December 23rd - All gifts are due!December 24th - Gifts are sent out and gushing begins

List of ParticipantsHere is our list of good girls and boys who have decided to participate! Names in red are people who have signed up to be back-up gifters as well.